The contrasts could hardly have been more striking. On one side were families — including many young children in strollers and backpacks, as well as elderly grandparents — marching peacefully, praying, and singing. Facing off against them: a seething, aggressive mob of mostly 20- and 30-somethings screaming profanities and political slogans through bullhorns and loudspeakers — egged on by the mayor and other city officials. After subjecting the estimated 8,000 marchers to a mile-long gauntlet of deafening taunts and threats, the militant mob surged through thin police lines and blocked the street, defying police orders to disperse. The pro-life march came to a halt, trapped in tight streets crowded with demonstrators, bystanders, and tourists.

The battle for the soul of America has reached a pivotal point. The tattered shreds of what remains of Christian civilization are under assault as never before, yet who is willing to stand in the breach against the attacking barbarian hordes? Certainly not those who now pose as our political, moral, and spiritual leaders. The ongoing public and shameful lynching of Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) is painful enough evidence of that.